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I hadn't prepared myself emotionally for what it would feel like to meet Gunner. One minute, I was on the back of Ace's bike, and the next, we were pulling up in front of the clubhouse. It didn't seem like much, a brick building close to the highway. You would never know that it was a motorcycle club.
Ace pulled behind a building, and I could see railroad tracks in the distance. We rode down a small paved slope to a large garage bay that opened as we approached. He drove inside and parked the bike. As I got off I immediately noticed everyone in the room was pretty much frozen to the spot.
A man stood with a woman. I don't know how I knew, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was my brother.
He approached us cautiously like he feared that if he moved too quickly, I'd spook.
Ace spoke first, "Alex, this is your brother Gunner, and his wife, Charlie."
I stuck out my hand, hoping he would shake it. I felt strange like I wasn't sure if I wanted to be close to him. I wanted my freedom, but something about the way he looked at me made me feel more than a little conflicted.
"I'm so glad to meet you." He put his hand out to shake mine, but as our palms touched, he pulled me in for a hug and spoke quietly, for only my ears to hear.
"I'm sorry it took me so long. Swear to Christ, if I'd known about you, I would have been there much sooner. I'm thankful as fuck you're home."
Now, why did his words make the back of my throat burn?
I didn't know what to say, so I offered him a small smile as I pulled away.
"This is my wife, Charlie." She seemed a little shy at first, but then threw her arms around me and hugged me as well. The way she hugged me was different than the way Gunner hugged me. It was like there was already a camaraderie, which was impossible since we'd never met. She was stunning with long dark hair, long legs, and a fantastic body. She was wearing black leggings and a slouchy sweater that hung off her shoulder.
"You're safe here," she said for my ears only.
Damn it to hell! I was going to cry if they didn't stop.
"Is this her? Is this my auntie?" A little boy came barreling through the group.
Charlie laughed and bent lower to talk to the boy on his level. "Gun, this is your Aunt Alex. I can call you Alex, right?"
"Alex is fine. Hi, Gun."
"Gun is short for Gunner. I'm named after my dad. He's your brother. Wait, I guess you know that. Want to see what I can do?" I just noticed the skateboard in one of Gun's hands propped up on one side and leaning on the ground on the other.
"Sorry, the boys like to give him sugar even when I tell them not to. He's a little wound up," Charlie explained, straightening herself.
"Reggie's been teaching me a few tricks. Want to see, Auntie Alex?"
I'd never really been around children and the speed at which he seemed to be going amused me. "Sure, have at it."
Gun took off on the board and moved around the room quickly, and then he jumped, keeping the board with him as he did it. "That's amazing," I said, finally taking in my surroundings. There were guys everywhere gawking. There were large machines on one side of the room. There was a couch and a few other chairs surrounding a card table. There were fully stocked stand up coolers, and on another side of the room, there was a boxing ring.
Wow.
I noticed some sparks flying, and saw a man welding a large piece of metal.
"Princess, it's a lot to take in. You want to grab something to drink, and maybe we can sit and talk?" Ace put his hand at the small of my back.
"Princess, Ace? We need to have words," Gunner spoke to Ace.
"After. First, let's get her settled, yeah?" Ace said.
I wasn't sure what their exchange was about, but I didn't have time to ponder it. We were being moved by the couch and chairs. Charlie sat in one of the chairs, and I watched as Gunner grabbed a folding chair from a stack, opened it, and took a seat. Ace guided me to the couch, where he sat down next to me, not giving me much space. Another man joined us from a corridor.
"You dipshits were supposed to tell me when she was here." He flashed a warm smile at me, then stuck out his hand. I shook his hand and was briefly struck by how attractive he was. He was no Ace, but damn he was something. He had light hair and eyes and was a tad shorter than my brother and nowhere as tall as Ace. "Hey, I'm Shane. Nice to meet you, Alex."
I noticed Shane quirk his eyebrow up at Ace, silently asking him a question. What that question was, I had no idea.
Ace didn't give me any time to ponder that. "Shane's the President of the club. I told you about him, remember?" It was then that I noticed the patch on his black vest that said President.
"Yes, I remember."
"Shane, take a seat." I watched as the tension in the room seemed to skyrocket a bit as if they were bracing for something.
"A Hades Runner made contact with Alex at my house. I wasn't gone long. I was just heading to the store, and then I was going to come here, but I got an alert that my perimeter was breached."
"You left her unguarded?" Gunner accused. "We went through all that, and you left her. You should've called a prospect to go to the fucking store. Are you fucking serious right now?"
Apparently, my brother had a temper.
"She wasn't supposed to open the door. No one can get into my house with the doors locked!" Ace gritted out, annoyed to be answering to anyone about me, at least, that's what it seemed.
"Gunner," Charlie said softly, "Why don't we pause for a second and listen to what Alex has to say about what happened."
Gunner took about a half a second to contemplate his wife's words, shot Ace an annoyed look, and then turned to me. "What happened when you opened the door?"
"I thought it would be Ace or one of you guys," I gestured to the room filled with men. "There was a guy I didn't know standing there, and he said that Hades wanted to speak with me. It was like he was sent there to deliver a message. That's all."
Ace spoke next. His voice seemed raw with emotion, but low, almost like a growl. "That's not fucking all. When I got there, she was spooked. She was scared in my home, and that's the last place she should be a-fuckin'-fraid."
"Yeah, why's that?" Gunner asked almost hissing as he spoke.
Yes, my brother could get pissed.
Shane stood, crossed his arms over his chest, and demanded, "You two. Office. Now." He turned to move down the hallway he came from without looking to see if Gunner and Ace would follow. He knew they would. And they did.